Frontline despatch from the Mirror's security correspondent on the border as uneasy calm returns after eight days of fighting

Both Palestinians and Israelis were celebrating the uneasy peace yesterday after eight days of fighting.

Retreating tanks snaked into the distance as thousands of Israeli troops began to pack up and leave the frontline after the ceasefire.

Israel claimed to have crippled Hamas, which also claimed victory, while both threatened retaliation if the other defied the Egypt-brokered truce.

The violence killed 163 Palestinians in Gaza - including 42 children. A further 1,225 were wounded - 450 of which are children.

In Israel six were killed by Palestinian rockets and more than 80 wounded, including 26 in a bus bomb in Tel Aviv.

Yesterday, a second Israeli soldier died as he succumbed to wounds sustained in a rocket attack just four hours before the Wednesday ceasefire.

Lieutenant Boris Yarmulnik, 28, fought appalling injuries after being hit by a rocket at 5pm on Wednesday but died a day later.

Some rockets were fired from Gaza in the first few hours of the truce, but Israel did not respond.

Israel said three rockets had been fired from Gaza since the ceasefire came into effect, two of which were shot down by the Iron Dome defence system.

Many Israelis were saved during the-eight day war by the Iron Dome defence system which shot down 421 militant rockets.

The Egyptian-brokered ceasefire agreement came into force at 9pm on Wednesday evening.

Israel agreed to end all hostilities and targeted killings of militants, while all Palestinian factions vowed to stop firing rockets into Israel.

Hamas dubbed yesterday a public holiday, to mark what it is describing as its victory over Israel.

AFP/Getty

Ultra Orthodox youths dance as Israeli troops prepare to leave a deployment area

In Gaza shops opened for business and queues formed at banks and cash machines as a massive clean-up of the bombed out city began.

Hani Hamadeh, 40, a stall holder, said: “The situation is very good today, we’ve returned back to work as normal.”

“There are lots of customers today, people are going out for the first time after eight days of war and doing their shopping.”

Ashraf Diaa, a 38-year-old engineer from Gaza City, said: “Today is different, the morning coffee tastes different and I feel we are off to a new start.”

But both sides warned they will retaliate if the other breaks the truce. Hamas’s exiled leader, Khaled Meshaal, warned in Cairo: “If Israel complies, we are compliant.

"If it does not comply, our hands are on the trigger.”

Meanwhile, Hasidic Jewish youths danced with Israeli soldiers to show their joy at the new calm.

Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said the truce was not a formal agreement and warned: “It could last nine days or nine weeks or more but if it doesn’t hold, we know what to do and of course, we will consider the possibility of resuming our activity if there is any firing or provocations.”

Others were vocal in their belief a ceasefire was not the way forward.

The leader of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, Mohammed Badei, slammed the truth and insisted: “The enemy knows nothing but the language of force.”

Accusing Israel of deception, he added: “Be aware of the game of grand deception with which they depict peace accords.”